The difference is that the Nevegal was popular with SLOW people (editors, MBA readers, your dad, etc) and was never popular with pros (see: sharpie sales in 2007), whereas the DHF was and still is popular with pros.

Also, I didn't say the DHF, I said Maxxis. Maxxis makes other tires than the DHF, many of which are great, but (other than Schwalbe) no other brand can put together a good tread, compound, and casing. My point is there aren't a lot of other good options. DHF, DHR, Assegai- these are the only tires I would ever buy at MSRP.

I don't understand why you would buy anything other than Maxxis or Schwalbe. 10 years later and still no one else can match these two brands. Maybe the new Michelin DH tires will work, but why wonder? I don't ride enough to want to potentially waste rides seeing if other tires work.

That makes a ton of sense that a longer bike would put your body in a different/more horizontal position. Seems like it'd be the same if you ran a super tall handlebar height- you'd want flatter levers to compensate. Also makes sense why BMX bikes that have shorter top tubes and lower handlebars feel weird with a flatter brake lever.

And if you want to get really weird, you can run an 11 speed SRAM shifter with a 12 speed SRAM eagle derailleur so the derailleur accepts the big range cassette. Wonder if you can mismatch Shimano shifters and derailleurs, too.